Definition of UCITS III

Ucits III is the second version of the European Commission directive outlining a framework for investment funds suitable for marketing to retail investors. It significantly enlarged the range of investment instruments that could be used, notably allowing some use of derivatives. This makes possible for some hedge fund managers to launch versions of their strategies in a Ucits version, so many more investors can access them.

Ucits IV is underway and mostly aims to make crossborder distribution easier by harmonising regulatory frameworks across the single European market. [1]